S-3. Lionel Repair UPDATE 6-14

Out of curiosity, what was it in for in November? Could it have been a related issue?

 

Dave

The RCMC board replaces the early Legacy modular boards.  It is a great board.

Marty Fitzhenry,  I just had to call lionel today the S-3 has failed again! 

 

this is second time has done same thing as follows

 

engine sitting on track unpowered track power is there while working with an mth engine on another track I hear the S-3 tender sounds come alive with 2 chuff sounds and a whistle blow!

 

yet the locomotive is still dark !!

 

I tried the R on remote locomotive headlight blinks but no whistle sound just normal sounds emitting from tender.

 

I tried the run/program set engine back to default settings as stated in book no go.

 

so I have to wait until august to get a new RA# as customer service has noted same issue on old RA# repair so shouldn't cost me more than shipping.

 

now anyone else having these same issues or issues with this S-3 # 261 from lionel or am I the unlucky one?

 

my wife says no wonder the railroads went to diesel and she loves steam engines!!

 

is there anything wiring wise to track that could cause this issue?

 

this last time they replaced the RCMC/Receiver/Driver/S-3 4-8-4 part # 691RCMC091

are these boards all bad this makes #2 that had to be replaced there has to be a reason for this failure any ideas??

 

thanks ST Paul

I do not know what is going on with your engine.  Those are good boards.  You must have a short going on somewhere.  Can you run your tender behind another recent Legacy engine?  Is this an engine you purchased new? Will the engine run in conventional with no Legacy on?

Marty Fitzhenry,  I can look for a short but all other legacy engines run fine on same track one is a daylight 4436 and a santa fe 3751 run for hrs no issue.

 

it is strange that every time this engine has done this it has been sitting unpowered and hasn't been addressed what so ever.

 

I did best I could using #261's tender with the 3751 santa fe engine the tab from locomotive is to wide to fit in slot of tender so cannot run it  but when powered upon conventional the tender was quiet no nothing until I addressed the 3751 then the sounds came alive bell whistle steam chest sounds crew talk all working.

 

I assume this will mean something to you as to where the issue is with the # 261 engine itself so is a signal not coming from the engine to the tender via the infrared device? or is it sending a signal from main board in the engine when it isn't supposed to?

 

very frustrating especially since they have the main smoke unit and the steam chest feature working perfectly this is first time both sides of steam actually came out all 4 holes.

 

yes this is a new purchased engine I bought when released so a one owner.

 

yes the 261 and its own tender will run in both directions in conventional mode but no bell whistle or crew talk sounds.

was curious re-added legacy base and turned power on tender sounds came on engine wasn't addressed  and it also runs in both directions under legacy but no bell whistle or other sounds!

 

is there a reset code we can try and reset the ?? board to see if it will heal itself or are these newer boards not able to have reset codes like in the tmcc days?

hey thought I would ask can't hurt at this point.

 

can you explain why engine works but tender isn't playing nice both powering up on its own under legacy control and the non sounds of bell whistle button commands from remote.

 

thanks for you input much appreciated.

 

St Paul

The Tender gets serial data via the IR tether between engine and tender.  The engine has the command board and can operate on its own with out the tender.  The tender is coming up in conventional since it doesn't see the serial data from the engine.

 

If you use a conventional bell whistle button I bet the tender sounds would play.  They just are not getting the commands from the engine.  The best bet is checking for a broken wire from the sensor on the engine and tender side.  Make sure alignment is correct also.   G

you may have a short or voltage spike somewhere on the layout that is burning up the R4 board when it sits on the track. I recommend that you install a block toggle switch in an isolated track section to shut the power down. Once the failure is seen, is it permanent? Or can you move the IR tether and it starts working again?

 

If you put the tender behind a different engine and it worked correctly, then your problem is with the engine. Try the tender from the S. Fe behind your S-3, if the problem persist, check the wires on the engine  I.R tether.

 

Bill

Boxcar bill I miss read your post will try the Santa Fe tender behind the S-3 when I get home from Dr app.

Boxcar Bill,    I tried the S-3 with the dante fe tender and same as the S-3 tender powers up when power applied.

 

so pulled the engine apart and the area where IR is the black wire melted and bare in spots so replaced it  with new wire and also the gray wire was broken away from the IR post so desoldered that too.

 

am sad to say all for naught as either that IR short took out mother board?? or is there something else to check? 

 

do they sell the complete IR tether for locomotive including the molex connector?

 

seeing IR engine side had bad areas guess I will check tender just to be safe. here is a photo of wire I replaced this was mostly in area running along side mother board.

 

I have the I.R. tether in stock with connector. Check our web.

 

Bill

Thank You boxcar Bill for having the part I needed in stock. was nice to chat with you as well. am so hoping this cures the S-3 issue as sure cheaper than shipping back for repair again.

 

St Paul

boxcar bill.... I have installed the new IR device into the S-3 and we have success all is working as it should be again.

 

I knew 30 seconds after I powered up the layout and it was still quiet things were looking up!

 

as a side note the part number lionel shows for that IR while the bulb end is correct the molex connector is not as the original is somewhere between 1/8" to 3/16" wide the one supplied was a 1/4" to 5/16" wide so I had to do an IR appendectomy and combine the two so I could plug the new Ir into its molex connector.

 

thanks again for the part and all the help from others as well.

 

St Paul

Glad we could help.

 

Bill